Hi Wilma and welcome! Wannaskip...I know those weeks. You would think if you diet and exercise each day, you would lose a little bit at a time, but no. I too go through weeks when I behave myself, with nothing to show for it. I just fluctuate up and down in a 1 or 2 lb range. Then, all of a sudden and for no good reason, whoosh...and I drop 1 or 2 lbs.

I had a visit from the whoosh fairy this morning. I've been between 171 and 172 for the past week, which didn't concern me given I've been sitting at a computer 24/7 not getting any exercise for almost 2 weeks. But, this morning when I stepped on the scales...whoosh...I was at 169.5. Yeah! I hope the whoosh fairy visits everyone else very soon!

So far I like June! The scales said 169 this morning, meaning I've reached my mini-goal of saying goodbye to the 170's and hello to the 160's. I will wait a few days to make sure I stay below 170 before updating my ticker with a new mini goal.

Yesterday, I managed to finish my report and it was filed with the Court, so the rush is now over. I'm now back to just being plain old busy as opposed to working around the clock. I was up at 4am yesterday morning in order to finish the silly report. After it was all finalized, I left work a little early, getting home by 4pm, and I was exhausted. I took a nap for an hour and then went for a long walk. That's the first time I've been able to go for my walk in almost 2 weeks, and I really enjoyed it. I will do another walk today. Hope everyone has a good day!

Tuscany!! WOOHOO Glad for you to finish that report and so glad that the Woosh or Swoosh fairy came to visit.. I hope she/he stays by your side for awhile... and yes.. I am having a few weeks of crap up down up up up down up down down ARGH... It does get to your mind doesn't it? I thank you for your encouragement.. I can really use it now!

Day 2 and so far so good for me, but weekends are the hardest. I no what you mean up the ups and downs and I am really dreading them. I just got back from taking a short walk on my break at work, and am enjoying doing this again.

Wilma

__________________
Goal 1: 174# No longer obese, just over weight.
Goal 2: 145# No longer over weight, very top of healthy weight range.
Goal 3: 130#? Who knows I will see when I get there.
NOTHING TASTE AS GOOD AS BEING THIN FEELS!!!

Good morning everyone!
Welcome Wilma! I am also 53 years young...although getting up in the morning I sometimes feel 80. My joint pain is now my major motivator for losing weight, not looking good in clothes, although that will be a plus as well.
Your heart condition does sound frightening, and does make things more complicated. Have you considered working with a cardiac exercise specialist? You probably have, but a specialist may be able to help you with particular exercises. Your first goal is my first goal- getting out of the obeses range!
I had been working with a personal trainer for about 9 months, but had chronic back pain during that time, and it cost me $200 a month. I quit about 2 months ago. now I am thinking I need to do some resistance training again, but am going to try it on my own. I did learn a lot from my one on one sessions.
So I have been doing IF for three whole days, and already feel a difference. I only weight myself every two weeks as I have said, because the daily ups and downs destroy my motivation and can actually throw me into depression. But I
can tell by my tummy roll as I sit in the bathtub and shave my legs! It is easier for me to reach the ankle area! OK, that was probably TMI, but it is true.
Tuscany, how in the world can you work like that??? I simply could not do it. I would fall asleep. You must have a ton of energy. I only hope you are being paid nicely for it! Congratulations for making it to the 160s! That is so cool!
So I am eating between 10am and 6pm. The mornings are easy, the nighttime is hard, which is weird since I should be hungrier in the morning. The theory is that if you give your body a long break without food, it has to break down fat to keep going...I have read conflicting info on the diet. It was originally used for body builders, and some say that it works better for men than for women, but I am going to keep going. I just find it easier to stay within my calorie allowance if I do not have to spread them out over 12-14 hours. The other strange part of this diet is working out on an empty stomach, just before you break the fast. Then your first meal should be high protein. I did it yesterday and felt fine. In fact, the biggest change so far is in my energy level and mood. My depression is almost gone, and I feel like doing things again, instead of forcing myself to do things.
It's low tide now so I am going for a morning beach walk in the sunshine!!! Almost unheard of in June in the Pacific Northwest!
Take care everyone, and keep on losing

Sorry to have tapped out for a few days. I have been traveling as well as busy at work. I am so ready for bed tonight! But I felt like checking in for a little.

Like I said, I'm ready for bed. I was really tired after work. Had a good workout in Pilates and wanted to just go home, have dinner and go to bed. But instead, I had to make a run to the grocery store. I was hungry, so after the store I caved to my desires and went to Burger King for a chicken sandwich. On my way home, I inhaled it. But I also thought about why I continue to eat fast food. I tried to figure out the circumstances when I cave to the desire to have fast food. I think it's because it's how I "love" myself. I give love to myself with fast food.

So I am really tired now and want to sneak off to bed. I'll explore this more here tomorrow.

Good morning,
It's good news bad news day...I measured myself and have lost 2 inches in the bust, 3 in the waist, 1/2 in the butt, but the scales have not budged. this remains a mystery to me. And this is why I have the scales phobia that I have mentioned. It's just not worth it to me. I wake up feeling thinner, then the number destroys my mood. So I am screwing the scales for awhile. When I lost 50 pounds in 2006, I never once got on the scale. I learned of my true weight only when I went to the doctor. I just went by my clothes.
Geoblewis, I noticed that you are using a good cognitive behavioral therapy technique to try to determine what precipitates your trips for fast food. SMART recovery has some really good tools you can download to help change behaviors and addictions. It is of course designed for alcohol/drug abuse, but they now have a whole group for folks with eating issues. Check it out for some good tools. I have printed them out and use them now and then... They also have some good anti-anxiety tools, which is something I deal with.
Anyway, I am focusing on inches lost today....maybe I can start an inches ticker??? I will say I really like the 16/8 IF....for me it just works to turn off eating. I just don't think about it.
Take care everyone. Have a good weekend.

BBP: I have an inches ticker and a weight loss ticker. I measure both. Typically, if I don't lose on one, I will lose on the other...so, it helps my motivation!

geoblewis: I know what it's like to be busy at work. Welcome back. Your comments about fast food are interesting. I don't "love" myself with fast food, since I don't really like fast food, although I did eat it a fair bit in the past, whenever I was busy at work in order to save time. That's a habit I need to get out of. In the past, I did "love" myself with chocolate and baked goods! They're my favorite, but that's another habit I need to get out of.

Wannaskip & Willma: Hope the scales have been good to you and you're over your ups and downs.

The scales have been good to me of late. I made it down to 168.25 this morning, and I've stayed below 170 all week. So, I've declared a victory on my mini-goal of making it to the 160's, and I've set a new mini goal of saying hello to the 150's.

Hi all,
Tuscany, great news that you are staying in the 160s. That is awesome.
I continue on with the 16 hour fast, and about 1200-1400 calories during the 8 hour window, mostly lean protein and veggies. Zero sugar. I hope that in another week I can actually report pounds lost, but for now I will take it if my clothes are fitting better.
How is everyone?

I had a busy week, then took off for L.A. for the second weekend in a row to watch my nephew get an award at school. And then...we had some fun in Beverly Hills! A new friend blogged about our fun. You'll see me in the picture. I am the giantess towering over everyone.

BPP, thanks for referring me to the SMART program. I am looking into it. I spent the night trying to resist overeating. I'm in a hotel room in Long Beach today. I had to escape my girlfriend's house so I could get some work done for a client, but last night, after all the fun and laughter on Friday night, I was feeling some let down. And after I talked with my girlfriend and she told me her husband took her out for happy hour and a movie, I started feeling very lonely and sorry for myself in my divorced status. I ordered myself dinner (dinner salad, peppercorn steak and sweet potato fries), turned on the TV and emotionally checked out till I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I think perhaps I stay up so late due to loneliness as well.

When I get caught up with feeling that lonely, that's when I struggle with not finding any compassion for myself. It's when I forget all the positive things about being single and 52. I really do love being single. I have a lot of really good friends, and a great network of support online. I have two sons that live with me. I love my home. I love how peaceful and safe I feel when I'm at home. I love my sweet dog DaisyMae. I love getting away from all of that and staying by myself in a hotel room on occasion. But I am still often plagued by deep loneliness and I tend to eat to manage the loneliness.

I am not sure how to deal with loneliness. It's a normal, human experience. We all know we can be in a room full of people and feel quite lonely, and also be entirely by ourselves and feel wonderful. Realizing that I tend to eat my why through the feelings of loneliness helps me understand why I ate so much the whole time I was in a relationship with that man. I felt so lonely all the time! Seeing that now actually helps me feel stronger, because I am now able to put my finger on another trigger for eating. Now I just need to figure out what to do with that, because when we feel lonely, we don't always have the opportunity to reach out and be with someone.

I'm about to go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I'm genuinely hungry. Hoping I can find something to meet my needs, and then I can get to work! I'm going home tomorrow, so I'll catch up again soon.

Good morning ladies. I keep finding and losing and finding this group -- kind of like my memory these days. Just realized the last time I found you was May 20!

I'm really focused on getting into the 330s......AGAIN. I have lost and gained these same 10 pounds three times now, and it's kind of depressing to realize what I could weigh if I hadn't reverted to old habits. But, I'm trying to be optimistic and realize that normally when I backslide, it's the first step in regaining it all. At least this time, I'm still trying to get back on track and get it off.

The cardioversion failed, but the doctor is happy with my pulse rate, so I'll probably just have to learn to live with the a fib. Since I feel fine, I imagine that it will become a lifetime of being on warfarin and getting monitored. Another case of having my words come back to haunt me -- always said I would never spend my day going to doctors like my grandparents did!

My focus this summer has been on performing some long overdue maintenance on the house. I live in WA on the side of a ridge -- 13% grade. For some unknown reason, I thought this would be perfect for retirement. Love the view of Mt. Rainier -- hate the hill and all the work involved in trying to keep up the lot. But, my sister died four years ago and between the depression over that and just weighing too much to do anything, I really let things slide around here. So, I've got a list a mile long and finally am tackling it. Today, the garden finally goes in. I'd had a boy till it about a month ago and then the monsoons started, so it needed to be retiled yesterday. Then I needed to rake out all the rocks that got churned up. Today the plants go in and I'll finally have that done.

Sorry for popping in and out. I finally realized that checking what forum this thread is in would help! DUH.

Good morning lovely ladies! To Wilma and Waterlily. My, this thread has moved fast in the week I've been gone. Vegas was fabulous! and I ate forbidden food and drank plenty of adult beverages for the 3 days I was there. I got back late thursday night and got right back on Atkins induction phase. I got on the scales this morning, fully expecting to be a pound or two heavier (and praying it was no MORE than that!) and I LOST another pound from last week! Wow! Stuck for no reason for a month, then indulge 3 days, do induction 3 days and lose a lb.?

I'm HAPPY!

I got the all clear on all my tests, so back to the gym this morning!
The doctor said I could take beta blockers if I want to for the tachycardia, but that is for my comfort as the "skip" I have is an arrhythmia I've always had and not dangerous. I don't like to take meds so I'm going to try to go without the beta blockers for now.

to Tuscany for hanging in there and being rewarded from the woosh fairy!!!

Everyone else----hang in there, eventually it will happen! But I also agree that the scales are AGGRAVATING and if possible it would be best to weigh no more than once per week! I'm OCD I guess, there is NO WAY I could go without weighing! I would like to see the weight come off faster but, I look back and realize I HAVE lost 20 lbs. and though it took 3 months to do it instead of 3-4 weeks like many can claim, it IS coming off. Patience grasshoppers!

Happy Monday everyone!
I did well over the weekend- stayed in my 8 hour window. Cincorn, so glad you enjoyed Vegas- and you dropped a pound!
Georgia, I love being alone, so I can't really relate to loneliness, but I can relate to other emotions that make me want to eat, so I get the wanting to zone out. For me it is stress, and just about anything stresses me out! You are on the right track by continuing to analyze your feelings and behaviors- this is a form of leaning into the emotions rather than trying to escape them. It's good! The more you can sit with your emotions and just allow them to be there, the less need you will have to escape them.
Tuscany, how did you get your inches tracker up?
Betsy2013, I too live in Washington and my house is on a steep hill, and the yard work is a pain!! But my hubby and I just bought a home for retirement and it's a 1 story rambler on a very flat lot Good for you for making your list. You can tackle it one project at a time.
I hope everyone has a great week!

Fun in Vegas and a whole pound lost...way to go Cincorn! That's excellent news. I too am OCD when it comes to weighing myself. I just do better when I weigh daily. I try not to get too concerned with daily fluctuations, but seeing that scale every day just helps to keep me on track.

Hi Betsy. I wish you luck with your garden and with losing those pesky 10 lbs that keep returning over and over. I too have some perpetual visitors, in the form of unwanted pounds, and I hope to say goodbye to them once and for all this time around.

geoblewis...I'm sorry to hear you feel lonely. I'm a long-time divorcee. I was married for an WHOLE year...imagine that! I'm like BBP in that I enjoy being alone, perhaps because I've been on my own so long. Still it is good that you understand why you do what you do, since understanding a problem is the first step in fixing it.

BBP...regarding my inch ticker. My tickers are from LilySlim and LilySlim has a waist ticker, which is intended to track your waist measurement. (I'm not sure if 3FC has such a ticker.) In any event, I added up all of my various starting measurements (chest, waist, belly, hips, both upper arms, both thighs and both calves), which came to 280 inches...and I entered that number as my "waist" measurement in the waist ticker (I mean what do I care if the computer thinks my waist is 280 inches! ). I know my various measurements from when I was younger and weighed about 125 lbs. So, I entered the sum of those inches as my goal "waist" measurement. And then every few weeks I update the ticker with my total inches based on the sum of my most recent measurements. Hope that helps.

I'm doing pretty well so far. Although I weigh myself every day, Mondays are my official weigh-in day. This morning I was 168, which is down 1.5 lbs from last Monday. As long as I lose 1 or 2 lbs a week, I'm happy!